Someday
by misty23y
Summary: What happens when a joint Rangeman and TPD takedown goes wrong? Will Stephanie get her someday? This is a complete one shot. Eventual Babe HEA. Cupcake friendly.


I can't believe what just happened! How did everything go so wrong so quickly? They have taken down many criminals, and have worked together so many times. How did everything go FUBAR? I'm in the control room at Rangeman with Cal, just thankful that I wasn't involved in the actual takedown like I was supposed to be, but I need to get there now. I have to check on my man. I need to see if he's okay, he's not moving. I'm trying to hold back my tears, but I can't. Cal is talking to me. "Stephanie, come on, we'll meet them at the hospital."

My name is Stephanie Plum and I am a bond enforcement agent, or a bounty hunter. I also work part-time at Rangeman, Inc. as a researcher. I'm a 33 year-old Hungarian-Italian woman with crazy, curly brown hair, sapphire blue eyes, and pale skin. I am 5'7" and 120 lbs (okay, okay, maybe more like 130). I have been in some type of relationship with two different men, Joseph Anthony Morelli and Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Joe is a detective in the Trenton Police Department and is 6' of gorgeous Italian bad boy. He has brown, slightly wavy hair that is always in need of a haircut and one of the two best asses in Trenton. We have a relationship that started when we played choochoo in his garage when I was six and he was eight, when he stole my virginity at sixteen in Tasty Pastry, where I worked, and our on-again, off-again relationship that we've had for the last few years. Ricardo Carlos Manoso, or Ranger as he's known, is the owner of Rangeman and is Cuban American. He is 5'11" of pure muscles. He's skin is café latte, and he has straight, silky black hair that is currently just long enough to need a ponytail. He's been my mentor, my employer, my best friend, and periodic lover. I love both of those men, I'm not sure who I'm in love with.

But, back to today. The gangs of Trenton are getting out of control and a large shipment of heroin was coming in today. Ranger got some intelligence on this and set up a joint task force with Rangeman and TPD. Both were involved with the take down. Ranger was supposed to lead the operation, with his former Army Ranger training he's good at this stuff, but Joe wasn't having it. By bitching and moaning and pulling some strings, Joe was named the one in charge of the operation. Ranger tried to point out some of the flaws of his plan privately, one-on-one, but Joe ignored everything Ranger said. Then, during the pre-operation meeting, Ranger again pointed on the flaws, but in front of everyone. Joe once again discounted everything Ranger said. Once they were ready to roll, they both walked over to me.

"Stephanie, I'm glad that you will be here in the building today on the monitors and not in the thick of things. I know you'll be safe and can't fuck anything up." Joe said to me.

"Well, you know, a broken ankle would do it." I respond with an attitude. My broken ankle is a result of saving my niece, Mary Alice's life two weeks ago. My sister had just arrived at my parent's house for Friday dinner when Mary Alice decided to run into the street to try and get her ball, which she dropped. Valerie, my sister, was taking her one-year old daughter Lisa out of the car seat and didn't see what happened. I happened to get out my car just in time to see Mary Alice sprinting into the street while a car was coming. I ran behind her and pushed her out of the way to the safety of the sidewalk across the street and got hit instead. Of course, my mother was embarrassed that my pants were ripped and my underwear was showing, and that my shirt was also ripped, exposing my bra. She didn't care that I saved Mary Alice's life, nor did she care the St. Val wasn't paying attention in the first place. Joe, who arrived about five minutes later, took me to the ER, because dinner could not be disrupted. So, here I was, two weeks later, waiting for this take down to happen while I watch monitors.

"Just try not to talk too much and distract the team, okay Cupcake? Wish me luck." He said and he leaned in to give me a kiss. We are in an off period, so I turned my head. No kisses for you, Joe Morelli. He looked annoyed and then stomped away. Ranger walks over to me with a slight smile.

"It appears that between you and I, we are making Joe very angry." Ranger said.

"He is so arrogant and obnoxious. He has flaws in this plan that he doesn't want to address because you noticed them. Doesn't he care that he or someone else could get hurt?"

"Babe, some men just always have to be right. You'll be okay here with Cal, right?"

"Yes, though I would prefer to be with you guys, I know I'm useless there with this cast on."

Ranger wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close to him. "Just know that I love you. Don't go crazy, Babe." He said before he kissed me. I allowed his tongue to enter my mouth and we had a deep, passionate kiss.

Once we broke away, I replied, "I love you too, Ranger. Don't get shot."

He gave me a full smile, turned and walked away. Once the elevator closed, I looked at Cal and saw his expression. It was then that it hit me that Ranger and I both declared our love for each other without any qualifiers or distractors. Holy cow! I told Batman I loved him and he loves me!

Back to the present. Cal is racing us to the St. Francis in one of the fleet vehicles. We beat both Ranger and Joe there. I can't believe they were both shot. They come wheeling it and it doesn't look good for either of them. The doctors won't let me near either one of them. I, along with the rest of the Merry Men (who all work at Rangeman) and TPD who are at the hospital are shuffled into the waiting room. It's not long before Angie Morelli, Joe's mom and his Grandma Bella arrive. They look at me and turn their back. They are not happy that once again, Joe and I broke up.

Bobby is waiting with us, trying to get updates from the staff on either man, but everyone is tight lipped. Finally, two doctors walk out, one looking grim and the other happy. Dr. Happy asked for the Morelli family. Angie walks over. "Joe is doing great. He got hit in the abdomen, and fortunately, missed all vital organs. He is fine and will be in a room in a little while. Once he gets his room you'll be able to go to him. We'll keep him here a day or two to monitor him to make sure there's no infection or internal bleeding, but otherwise, he's fine."

Angie crosses herself and hugs her mother in law. It's now Dr. Grim's turn to talk. "Who is here for Mr. Manoso?"

Bobby steps forward while I hobble over with my crutches. "How is he?" Bobby asks.

"It's not looking good. He got hit in the thigh with a bullet and it hit his femoral artery. We managed to stop the bleeding, but he lost a lot of blood. In addition, he broke two ribs when he fell, and punctured a lung. He's in a medically induced coma right now to allow his body time to heal, but the prognosis is not good. Less than a 30% chance due to the amount of blood loss."

I start to see spots in front of my eyes and feel light headed. Before anyone can get me seated, I faint into Cal's arms.

The next thing I remember is sitting on the couch in the waiting room with Bobby kneeling in front. "Bomber, you okay?"

"I need to see him, I need to see Ranger, now."

"I'm working on it, Steph. I'll try to get you in there. I promise." I just nod my head as the tears take over. I'm sobbing uncontrollably, worse than I did after he was shot by Scrog. He finally told me he loved me, and I finally told him. Today was our someday. Now what? Lester sat down next to me and just enveloped me in his arms and let me cry. He rubbed my back and whispered in my ear "It'll be okay, you'll see. Carlos will pull through."

Cal motions Bobby next to him. I can't hear what he's telling Bobby, but suddenly Bobby looks at me, shakes his head, and leaves the room. I can only assume he's looking for a doctor. After what seems like hours, I finally stop sobbing and I'm completely numb. I am still leaning against Lester for support, and he still has me in his arms. Bobby had brought over a chair so I could elevate my leg while sitting down. My head in on Lester's shoulder as he's rubbing small circles on my arm. I feel myself falling asleep.

 **Lester's POV**

I can't stand seeing Beautiful like this. She is so hurt and scared. She's afraid, afraid that Ranger won't make it. I'm glad that she at least fell asleep. Her emotions will be more under her control if she is allowed to see Ranger. My fear is with her, though. Ranger in my cousin, and I love him. I don't want to see something happen to him. Bobby comes over and assesses that she is asleep. I can tell he wants to talk, but the Morelli's are still there. Finally, he decides he needs to tell me.

"Lester, before we left, they admitted it to each other." Bobby said in a whisper. At first, I'm not sure what he's talking about, then it hits me.

"What? How? What was said?"

"Those magic three words."

"How do you know?" I ask. I'm finding it hard to believe that these two got their heads out of their asses long enough to admit what everyone else has known for years.

"I overheard the conversation." Cal replied sheepishly.

"No wonder Beautiful is such a mess right now."

The doctor appears in the waiting room again. "Mr. Brown, the prognosis is worse than before. His body is shutting down. I'd say his chances are less than 10% right now."

"Listen, Doctor, I know there are dangers for Ranger right now, but she needs to see him." He informs the doctor while pointed to Stephanie. "If he is to have any chance at all, they need each other. If she doesn't get a chance to say goodbye…"

I can see the doctor is fighting an internal battle. Does he go against what is medically sound and allow the girl in, or does he let him be alone. He looks at Stephanie and see her tear stained face, red, puffy eyes, and the drenched shirt that Lester has on. He sighs. "I can allow her ten minutes. That's all. If he crashes or gets worse, she's out sooner."

"Deal." Bobby agrees.

I start to shake Stephanie gently, "Stephanie, Beautiful, you're going to able to see Ranger now. Come on, Beautiful, wake up."

She slowly opens her eyes, and the blue is unfocused and dull, not vibrant. "I can see him?"

"Yes, Steph, for ten minutes. Listen, he's even worse now. It's very likely that he won't make it. Say whatever you need to say to him now, because you may never get another chance." Bobby tells her. I shoot him a dirty look. I see the pain in her eyes and her heart, and she tries to get up. I stand up and lift her up into my arms and carry her to Ranger's room. The doctor opens the door and I bring her to the chair set up next to his bed. He's so pale and has so many monitors and bandages on him, with IV lines and blood transfusion set up. I set her down in the chair. "I'll be right outside the door if you need me." I kiss her on her head before leaving.

 **Stephanie's POV**

I take Ranger's hand in mine. "Ranger, I hope you can hear me. You need to come back to me. You can't leave me like this. You finally told me that you love me, without any qualifiers or conditions. I love you too. I want a chance at our someday. I want to fall asleep in your arms every night and wake up next to you every morning. I want to spend my days and nights making love to you. I want to see your brown eyes dark with desire. I want to feel your muscular body next to mine. I want you to say that you're proud of me, and that you love me. Ranger, I need you in my life. I'm nobody without you. No one but you believes in me or is willing to help me fly. Please stop scaring me and fight. Come back to me. I need to hear you call me Babe one more time. Ranger, I love you so much. If you leave me now, I have nothing left to live for. You are my life, my love. Please Ranger, please." I give in to the sobs and lean over to kiss him on his lips. He's so cold. "Lester, I need you." I call out to him.

Lester comes in quickly. "What's wrong?"

"You need to help me get into bed with him. He's too cold. I need to warm him up."

"Steph, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

I give him my best Burg glare. "Okay, okay. I'll help you." He gently picks me up and places me next to Ranger, I place my head on his shoulder and whisper in his ear, "Carlos, I love you. You're finally mine, don't leave me." I close my eyes and just keep repeating 'I love you Carlos' over and over in my head as a fall asleep next to the love of my life.

 **Bobby's POV**

Ten minutes after I arrived at Ranger's room with Steph, the doctor comes back and is livid that she's lying next to Ranger. He's getting ready to scold me and Stephanie until he looks at Ranger's numbers. "This can't be."

"What's wrong, doctor?" I ask.

"Nothing is wrong, per se, it's just that he's getting better. His numbers are improving and he seems to be stabilizing."

"Does this mean she can stay?"

"Yes, she can stay." He motions for me to go with him into the hallway. "What is their deal? Is that his wife?"

"No."

"Fiance? Girlfriend?"

"I'm not quite sure how to categorize what they are. Officially, they are just employer and employee, unofficially, they are everything to each other. They are in love, but both of them are too stubborn and too blind to see what's right in front of them. I'm hoping that, if Ranger pulls through, this could be the wake-up call that they both need to get their act together and get together."

"Well, she's definitely important to him. He's subconscience is reacting to her. I've seen this before, but never in this extreme of a case. She has my permission to stay as long as she wants."

"Thanks, doc. I appreciate this. How's the cop?"

"He's doing okay. Steady, but we need to make sure there are no lingering problems. They had to remove his gallbladder and spleen. He should have a full recovery."

With that, the doctor walked away. I look in at Steph and Ranger and feel guilty that part of me wishes that it was Joe lying in that bed, especially because it was his fucked up, asinine plan that Ranger was injured. But no, he's fine and Ranger is fighting for his life. Oh well, at least he got the girl.

 **Joe's POV**

Fucking asshole Manoso. Fucking Rangeman, fucking traitorious cops. How the fuck did this go so bad. Everything was going fine, and then suddenly there are shots fired. And, I get hit. And not only me, but Manoso too. Now, Stephanie will be rushed to the hospital by her guards. The question is, will she be there for me or him. I hear Bobby call out information to the arrive paramedics. Apparently, Ranger is unconscious, and is bleeding bad. As much as I can't stand the bastard, I don't want him dead. Stephanie will never forgive me if he got killed on my watch, especially since this was one scenario he fucking predicted. This may be just what she needs to give me up for good and go into Ranger's bed.

Two weeks ago, after she stupidly ran into the street, I brought her to St. Francis. I have to say, missing a Plum family dinner was worth the wait, but I was still pissed off at her. We were supposed to spend the weekend at the shore, but with a broken ankle, that plan went out the window. So, instead of being able to have her in a rented house, all to myself, where I could fuck her day and night, she was in the hospital, and then was on bed rest. No extracurricula activities for Stephanie. I lost the money on the house, and I had to pay a cancellation fee for the restaurant where I was planning on proposing to Stephanie the next night. I was upset, and when I finally go to see her, I yelled at her for being so irresponsible and stupid. I mean, she could have gotten herself killed. Doesn't she care about herself? She made some lame ass excuse that Mary Alice almost got hit, but I know it was bullshit. Then, when I told her that she was coming home with me so she could rest in my bed for the next two weeks, she asked if I was taken off from work. Why would I do that? It's not my job to wait on her hand and foot. It was that comment that had her ordering me out of her room. She actually said "Fuck off, Joe. We're done." I tried to talk some sense into her, but off, Mr. Perfect Manoso had to walk in then. He ordered me out of the room and threatened to have me kicked out. Fucker.

Then, two days later, I went by her apartment to apologize, and she wasn't there. When I went to her parents, they told me she was staying at Rangeman, with Ranger. To make matters worse, I was forced to work with him on finishing up my case. He had her involved in every aspect, even though she wasn't in on the take down. He tried to tell me that she did all the research. I don't that, she's not good at anything she does. Even sex with her was good. She's too prohibitive. But, that was fine, I had Terry and Joyce on the back burner. Fuck my life.

The doctor comes in. "Detective, you're doing excellent. You need to stay overnight, then you can leave tomorrow, but you will be out of work for two weeks, and on desk duty for another month. After that, you can return to your normal activities. Is there anything or anyone you need? You are free to have visitors now."

"Yes, doc. Can you please have Stephanie Plum come here, I'd like to speak with her."

"I'll see if she'll come here." With that, he walks out of the room.

See if she'll come here? Why wouldn't she? I can't imagine that Manoso is allowed visitors. She should be in here getting ready to help take care of me. What is going on? Instead of Stephanie, Bobby walks in, one of Ranger's minions.

"Hi Joe, I glad to see you're doing better."

"Thanks." I can't be too angry at him. He helped to give me a proper field dressing and make sure I was stable until the paramedics got there. He's a good guy overall, and probably the only non-thug employed by Ranger. "Where's Stephanie?"

"Stephanie is with Ranger. He wasn't doing well, we almost lost him. She's in his room with him. His body has been fighting back with her near him. She's not going to leave his side until he's awake. She asked me to tell you that she's glad that you are doing well and that she hopes you have a speedy recovery. She said she'll visit you when she has a moment, but it may not be until after Ranger is awake."

"What, are they together?"

"No, not yet."

"But she's living with him?"

"No, actually. She's been living in one of the apartments on the fourth floor. Ranger offered her the penthouse, but she refused. She said she wanted to be close to me in case she had any issues. My apartment and office are also on the fourth floor. She hates using the crutches and tries to limit her movement to the fourth and fifth floors."

"I see. Tell her I'll wait for her visit."

"I'm sorry Joe, I'll try to get her here to see you at some point."

"Thanks, Bobby, but I don't want to force her."

"Feel better. Do you want me to send in our mom? She's anxious to see you."

"Yes, that would be great." He leaves my room. I guess I really have lost Stephanie. And to Manoso, of all people. FUCK.

 **Ranger's POV**

I feel pain. I can't move my leg. I'm not sure why. I'm laying down. Where am I? The last thing I remember is the shooting. Fuck, I've been shot. I hear beeping in the distance. And voices, but I can't make out the voices. I need to open my eyes, but my body doesn't want to. What are they saying. Concentrate, Manoso.

"His heartrate, BP, oxygen levels, everything is much better than it was yesterday. He has a really good chance of pulling through this. This time yesterday, I thought he'd be dead by now. But then you came in here, and he's been steadily improving. We are already giving him the medication to wake him, but it sometimes takes a while to kick in."

"What are his chances now, Dr. Cohen?"

"I'd say 80% for a full recovery. His leg may be a problem. We won't know if there's any lasting muscle or nerve damage until he can get up and walk."

"Thank you for letting me stay here."

"My dear, if only you could help all my patients like Mr. Manoso, I'd let you wherever you wanted to be."

I hear her voice, my babe, my Stephanie. I remember telling her that I love her and she responded that she loves me too. I have to wake up. Wake up already, Manoso, open your eyes and look at your Babe. She's here with you. I feel my bed dip and her body leaning against mine, touch my body. I feel her kiss my cheeks, by lips, my forehead. "Ranger, wake up for me. I miss you. I need you. I want you. I love you. Please come back to me."

I manage to slowly open my eyes and I see the most beautiful woman in the world, I see Stephanie. "Babe." It's all I can say.

"Ranger, you're awake!"

She gets a cup of water for me and a straw. She let's me take a sip. "Babe, I love you."

"I love you too. Let me get the doctor and the nurse."

"Not yet." I can barely talk, but I have to do this first. "Babe, marry me. Become my wife. I don't want to ever be without you by myside. Once I get out of here, I'll give you the ring I have for you in my safe. Please, Stephanie Michelle Plum, marry me."

"Ranger, I want nothing more than to marry you! Let's get married one month from today, okay?"

"If that's what you want, that's what we'll do." She leans in and kisses me. I wish I could make love to her right now, but I know that I'll have plenty of time to do that for the rest of our lives. I'm just glad that from this moment forward, Stephanie Plum is MINE.

"Cupcake?" Morelli's here.

"Joe, I'm so glad you're okay. Now that Ranger is awake, I was going to come and see you. Are you going home?"

"Yes. I am. You're engaged?"

"Yes. Ranger and I just got engaged. We're getting married in a month."

"Congratulations. It's a little quick, don't you think? Especially since I've been asking you to marry me for years."

"Joe, we're not good together. We don't get along well enough as a couple. We can't even live together for more than a few weeks without fighting. I realized yesterday that if you died, I'd be devastated and sad, but I'd be able to move on with my life. If Ranger died, my life would be over. Even though I might physically be alive, I'd be dead emotionally. He's my soulmate. I need Ranger." She told him as he grabbed my hand. I've never been so proud to call her my woman.

"I see. Well, see you around, Cupcake, Manoso." With that, he walked out of the room.

"I'm proud of you, Babe." I told Stephanie.

"When I'm with you, anything is possible. I love you."

"I love you too. Here's the start of our 'someday'."


End file.
